Fellow drivers and knucklebusters,

My wife and I are looking at moving to Oz in 2012 when I retire from the Navy. My Mini is a '87 RHD Austin Mini. Her's is an '07 LHD MINI Cooper S. Both silver leaf w/ black tops and bonnet stripes. IF anyone out there has any details importing these two vehicles into Australia, any input would be a big help. Any state, minus Taz, we would be willing to ship to and would even ship through NT if we can keep these cars in the family.

Travis at Guantanamo

Welcome to ausmini, Travis!

If you get a chance, please put some pics of your Minis in the Member's Gallery so we can all ogle them.

Happy posting, een.

Welcome Travis , good to see another mini person looking to come here . I don't know much about importing them but I'd say the Austin mini wouldn't be a problem , the BMW Mini might be however as we have some tight laws about importing modern cars that are available here new . Plus you'd have to convert it to RHD which would be extra expense . Might be worth looking at selling it there and then buying a similar one when you get here . Hopefully someone else can fill you in on the details though , there are several members here who have imported mini's and other cars from NZ , Japan and other countries .

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1st off, were is the "Member's Board" and how can I post personal pic's?

Travis at Guantanamo

Need to be logged in to see the Members gallery!

Oh and Hi Travis!!!

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Sir Alec! we are not worthy!

Yes , as Graham said it's only visible to members so now that you have signed up you'll be able to see it , just scroll down the index page and you'll see members mini gallery . To post photo's you need to host them somewhere like photobucket or Imageshack , or your own webspace if you have it . There's a fair bit of information in the link below as to how to do it , if you have any problems just ask and someone will be able to help you with it .

http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10405

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Immigrants get special dispensation when importing their own cars, they can bring more or less anything in. I don't know what kinds of visa gives you the rights but moving to Australia is the easy way to get a car here. The customs website is very helpful.

http://www.customs.gov.au/webdata/resou ... vOwnMV.pdf

Having said that, some states make it very difficult to register LHD cars (I assume these are both left hookers?). The Mini is a cinch to convert to RHD but the BMW would be costly. It may well be better to sell it and buy one here.

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

Hi, have a look here; http://www.dotars.gov.au/roads/safety/b ... .aspx#5.06

5. Personal Imports - Part 8 on Application Form
Visitors, temporary residents, foreign diplomatic personnel, companies and corporations are not eligible to import a vehicle under the personal import scheme.

To be eligible for a personal import the following criteria must be satisfied:

the vehicle has been owned and used by the applicant for a continuous period of at least 12 months (3 months where ownership and use of the vehicle commenced before 8 May 2000);
at the time the vehicle is imported, the applicant is:
i. an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident; or
ii. a person who has applied to become an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident;
the applicant is of an age that entitles him or her to hold a licence or a permit to drive a road vehicle of that type;
the applicant undertakes to comply with any requirements as to road safety that are imposed in respect of the vehicle by the Administrator; and
the applicant has not imported a road vehicle owned by him/her within the year ending on the day on which the vehicle in respect of which the application is made is landed in Australia. If an applicant has imported a vehicle under any other provisions in that time, approval will not be granted.
The criteria outlined at (a) to (e) above are mandatory criteria as included in Regulation 13 of the Motor Vehicle Standards Regulations 1989. The criteria will be strictly enforced.

Copies of the following documents must be provided to establish ownership and use of the vehicle overseas for twelve consecutive months, or more:

every page of your passport including all blank pages
statement of travel. This involves supplying details of any absences from your main country of residence during the relevant qualifying period for ownership and use of the vehicle. If your travel was for business reasons you must supply a letter to that effect from your employer.
purchase documents
overseas registration documents in your name
Driver's Licence
A $50 application fee must also be provided.

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'98 Mpi Sportspack + 7 port alloy head

Just as an indication, it cost me $4200 to get my car on the road in Victoria. Other states may be different. As the DOTARS site suggests, you should check your State destination rules because their info is at a national level just to get the car to Oz.
The amount above did NOT include shipping or insurance costs.
Don't book any shipping until you have an authority number from DOTARS.
Hope this helps

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'98 Mpi Sportspack + 7 port alloy head

Welcome Travis, glad you got logged in OK.
You'll like it here..... a bit more action than MiniMania lately.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

How can I have this picture as a permanent item under my name on the left side?

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Travis at Guantanamo

Australia Bound, June 2012

Go into your profile, scroll down to bottom and add it as your avatar.
Not sure of size limits, downsize it if needed- mine is 99x75 pixels..

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

The 1987 RHD Mini will be no real issue. There must be thousands of 80's Minis on Aussie roads now - all imports. People like Brickworx (on this forum) add a few similar cars to our roads every month. Expect to change seatbelts, add child restraint points, Left dippuing headlamps and fit intrusion bars in the doors at minimum. But you will need to check with the state you want to settle in to get the exact details, as they all differ.

I'm afraid your LHD 07 car will be impossible to register LHD in any state except NT as a permanent resident. NT allows LHD cars to be registered and US serviceman posted here are allowed to register LHD cars in any state, but they must (or are supposed to!) take the car with them when they leave the country. Since you are retiring, this loophole will not be open to you. Converting to RHD would not be economically viable, so unless you are extremely attached to the car, I'd suggest selling it and buying another in Oz is the best option.

Cheers,

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Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

The 80's mini will be no problem at all.
the 07 can be regoed here but has to be converted to right hand drive.
i'm not sure about the construction of the car and wether the shell is different right to left.
if they are the same and you really want your car here it might be worth while buying a right hand drive front cut minus the panel work.
(i just happen to know where there is two)

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